AI made email marketing easier. It needs us to make it better.
AI can write email campaigns in seconds, but it can't replace the strategy, judgement, and customer understanding that make them worth sending.
Kath Pay's latest articles
AI is not the skill email marketers need most
The most valuable email marketers know how to apply AI across automation, personalization, analytics, testing, and customer journeys.
Your email A/B test winner might be lying (and it’s costing you)
Why single-metric wins, short test windows, and surface-level analysis in email marketing hold your program back — and what to do instead
The post-purchase moment where loyalty is won or lost
The email you send after checkout can either reinforce trust or leave customers questioning their decision.
6 post-purchase moments that shape customer lifetime value
Customers second-guess after they buy. Use education, reassurance and personalization in post-purchase emails to increase trust and long-term value.
What TikTok gets right about attention and what email overlooks
TikTok forces creators to earn attention in seconds. Email marketing needs to do the same.
Companies aren’t looking for storytellers. They’re looking for meaning.
Companies are struggling to make sense of what their stories mean, to whom and why it matters.
4 takeaways for email marketers from Google’s 2025 holiday report
Shoppers are thinking differently, and Google’s new data shows the cognitive patterns marketers need to understand to win the 2025 season.
How showing up — even when you’re scared — builds marketing confidence
Vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s how you build trust and authentic leadership. Here's how courage and connection can transform your marketing.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI can scale your brilliance — or your mediocrity. Here’s how to stay smart.
Marketers are learning that without strategy, generative AI can make them less creative — not more productive.
Adapting email for AI-powered inboxes and zero-click journeys
Clicks are vanishing, but email still sparks action. Learn how to prove its influence with smarter metrics and schema markup.
‘They did it, so we should too’ isn’t an email strategy
Mimicking winning email campaigns won’t guarantee success. Strategy — not imitation — should guide your email marketing decisions.
Why it’s time to reframe email from campaigns to conversations
Most email programs are still built around brand priorities — not customer needs. Here’s how to flip that dynamic.
Real persuasion doesn’t require manipulation
Ethical persuasion builds trust. Manipulation destroys it. Learn how to market with empathy, not pressure.
Email is the most misunderstood channel in your digital stack
Email can be your brand’s most controllable growth lever — if you stop treating it like a last resort. Here's how to elevate its role.
Interactive email is the game changer brands can’t ignore
Creative, purposeful touches, like interactive designs that engage customers, make your emails stand out.
How cognitive biases influence email A/B tests
Spot and eliminate cognitive biases that distort test results for more accurate, data-driven email marketing decisions.
How cognitive biases shape email engagement
Boost your email marketing with persuasive, psychology-backed strategies that ethically drive action.
Are these email subject lines deceptive, clever copywriting or bad data at work?
Email marketers need to lean into their subject lines going forward, but must avoid deception at all costs.
Why bad business decisions can hurt email deliverability
Seemingly unrelated decisions, from account management to email timing, can block your messages from inboxes. Here’s how to fix it.
How to use generative AI in copywriting for an A/B testing program
Get on board with generative AI to create effective A/B test variants for email campaigns. And meet Chad.
Now playing: ‘The Email Test That Goes Wrong’
From little things, big mistakes grow: How to ensure your email testing avoids the small errors that can make the results useless.
4 inbox-altering changes to watch for
The email experience is changing. Here's how to plan for it.
Optimizing your email program: Finding sweet spots and tipping points
Boost your marketing ROI by identifying sweet spots that resonate with subscribers and tipping points that cause opt-outs and lost revenue.
Why you should track your email’s long tail to measure success (plus a case study)
Get tips on finding the right reporting window to capture your email campaigns' true long-term performance.
Email excellence: The top 10 traits of highly effective email marketers
What makes an email marketer truly exceptional? Learn 10 key characteristics behind email marketing mastery.
Frequency testing: The key to unlocking more email revenue
Don't let a badly performed email frequency test cost you money. When done right, higher frequency can pay off with more revenue.
Why it’s time to rethink your feedback emails and how to do it right
Use these tips to create more effective email surveys and review requests your customers will want to open and complete.
How to create a re-engagement strategy that doesn’t insult your subscribers
Here's what email marketers should and shouldn't do to manage inactive subscribers and rebuild engagement.
AI-powered cold email: A nightmare in the making?
AI can help draft cold emails, but it shouldn't run the show. Learn the right way to blend automation and personalization when prospecting.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
The perfect combination: GenAI and persuasion strategies for unbeatable A/B tests, Part 2
Explore the role of ChatGPT in crafting persuasive copy, testing hypotheses and achieving optimal campaign results.
The perfect combination: GenAI and persuasion strategies for unbeatable A/B tests
A deep dive into writing prompts for generative AI to create an email campaign brief.
How persuasive email design can influence the ecommerce customer journey
Email doesn't begin and end with copywriting. Design elements can help persuade customers to click and convert.
9 steps to make an email reactivation program that really works
Learn how to revive dormant email subscribers and boost your ROI with these expert tips and examples of winning email campaigns.
7 key email metrics to track beyond opens and clicks
These lesser-known metrics will shed more light on whether your email program is thriving, surviving or ready for resuscitation.
Holiday email opt-outs: Right intentions, wrong response?
Limited-term opt-out has become a standard feature in email marketing workflows. Here are some factors to consider before creating one.
Beyond ‘click here:’ 4 rules for better email CTAs
"Click here" is a terrible call to action for email campaigns. Here are tips and examples to help you develop better ones.
6 tactics to create recession-proof email marketing
These recession-proof tips let you adjust your email marketing program for short-term gains and long-term success.
3 ways data can steer you wrong — and how to glean better insights
The wrong data is just as harmful to marketing as having no data. Here's how a holistic testing methodology can help you glean better insights.
4 emails that customers will love — and help them love you
Sending helpful emails lets customers feel more attached to your brand, making it more likely for them to purchase your product or service.